Managing traffic is just one of the challenges facing the Nashville metropolitan area as the region's population approaches 2.5 million by 2035.

Written by

Bill Freeman

In the past two decades, the city of Nashville has evolved from a sleepy Southern city into one of America's hottest success stories, thanks to the leadership and contributions of an almost countless number of leaders, entrepreneurs and visionaries in business, government and beyond.

In 1960, three years before Nashville and Davidson County merged governments, the population of the area was just under 400,000 people. Today, it's 1.7 million - and the Nashville region's population is projected to top 2 million by 2020, just seven years from now. Looking farther down the road - but not all ...